Executive Director

COLA is sad to announce that Cole Eckerman is stepping down from her position as Executive Director, where she has served the last two and half years.  She will continue to serve the Seattle community in her next role at Bellevue Arts Museum.

Cole helped COLA become a more active organization in furthering our goals. She was instrumental in advocacy efforts, which resulted in dog-friendly amendments to the city’s dog parks master plan, and the enlargement and prioritization of the dog park in the Smith Cove Park redevelopment plan.  Additionally, Cole has worked with the city to facilitate our OLA stewards and win approval for improvements like the agility equipment at Westcrest, and she was the driving force for much of our programming including Dog-O-Ween, the Dog Parade, and the Lecture Series.

COLA will move forward as a volunteer-run organization, aided by Cole’s transition to a member of our board of directors.  Our mission to advocate for and provide for community off-leash spaces is unchanged.